Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in the Turkish city of Istanbul after a 280-mile Justice March against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The demonstration was in response to the widespread jailings and dismissals authorised by the Turkish government after last year鈥檚 failed coup attempt.
Erdogan has accused the Republican People鈥檚 Party (CHP), the main organisers of the protest, of supporting terrorist activity. He said they were 鈥渁cting with terrorist organisations and the forces inciting them against our country鈥.
Emergency rule and the purges initiated by Erdogan鈥檚 government constitute a 鈥渟econd coup,鈥 said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who began the march from Ankara to Istanbul on June 15.
In Istanbul, Kilicdaroglu told a large crowd that the people of Turkey were living under a dictatorship, but that 鈥渨e will be breaking down the walls of fear鈥.
Last year鈥檚 attempted military takeover resulted in more than 250 deaths. Since then over 50,000 people have been arbitrarily arrested and 140,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs. Kilicdaroglu decided to march from Ankara to Istanbul when a parliamentary colleague was jailed for 25 years on charges of spying.
[Abridged from .]
Like the article?聽Subscribe聽to 麻豆传媒 now! You can also聽聽us on Facebook and聽聽on Twitter.